Archimedia Studios

Put the “I” back in Team?

It may seem like teamwork is commonsense, but our everyday understandings of how to work optimally together can be wildly out of whack according to a new book by Harvard psychology professor, J. Richard Hackman Here are three of the best “beliefs about teamwork that may be out of whack” and from our expereince we are in full agreement with the professor.

  • Harmony helps. Smooth interaction among collaborators avoids time-wasting debates about how best to proceed. Actually: Quite the opposite, research shows. Conflict, when well managed and focused on a team’s objectives, can generate more creative solutions than one sees in conflict-free groups. So long as it is about the work itself, disagreements can be good for a team.
  • It’s good to mix it up. New members bring energy and fresh ideas to a team. Without them, members risk becoming complacent, inattentive to changes in the environment, and too forgiving of fellow members’ misbehavior. Actually: The longer members stay together as an intact group, the better they do. As unreasonable as this may seem, the research evidence is unambiguous. Whether it is a basketball team or a string quartet, teams that stay together longer play together better.
  • Teamwork is magical. To harvest its many benefits, all one has to do is gather up some really talented people and tell them in general terms what is needed–the team will work out the details. Actually: It takes careful thought and no small about amount of preparation to stack the deck for success. The best leaders provide a clear statement of just what the team is to accomplish, and they make sure that the team has all the resources and supports it will need to succeed.

What they don’t teach You in Ad School

There’s one thing that everyone in the fields of advertising, marketing, design, digital and the like all share: We were all once newbies. Young pups. No matter how we earned our first job or sneaked into this industry — and regardless of previous class work, internships and competitions —  most graduating students have no idea exactly what they are getting themselves into. We would like to share some key insights into our world that  more institutions, that offer Communications, Marketing, Advertising, Design majors,  should be addressing in their curriculum.

#1 It’s Ultimately About People
No matter how “creatively driven” the agency, we are ultimately responsible for helping our clients interact with real, living, breathing human beings. While it’s tempting to get caught up in pursuit of fake gold awards to hang on the mantel, we need to always remember that we’re being paid to create connections between people and brands — whether it be building awareness for a new product or cultivating evangelism for an established brand. So while we may make ads, or build apps, or design and program websites, we must never lose sight of the fact that we are truly in the “people” business.

Signs that your Boss may be Wimpy!


  1. Avoids confrontation. Your boss cowers at the thought of having to deal directly with workplace issues and problem employees. Since issues are not resolved or people held accountable, your group’s performance is mediocre and its effectiveness declines.
  2. Likes the status quo. Unwilling to “rock the boat” for fear of “upsetting the apple cart” – two of your bosses favorite phrases –  employees languish in their comfort zone. Nobody is challenged to reach for the stars or take risks.
  3. Always the victim. When all the political players and bullies take swipes at you and your group, your boss takes the high road. That way everybody covers their own butts by pointing fingers at you and your people. Your folks become perpetual victims.
  4. Gives in to whiners. To placate whiny employees and squeaky wheels – – more work and/or burden is placed on others. Eventually, everybody’s doing nothing but complaining, if they know that they can get what they want simply by whining or complaining.

Avoid the Complacency Syndrome

One of my favorite Will Rogers quotes is: “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” And this is so applicable to what we are  seeing in too many businesses today. In fact, it has been a major topic of conversation in the coaching of one of my major clients that is very concerned with complacency in their company. Complacency can be absolutely poisonous to businesses chances for success. Complacency is confirming that you and your business are in a rut and you have decided to stay there. Well, just as Will Rogers warns us about sitting on the right track and getting run over, if your business stays in a rut it too will remain stuck and will get run over too.

Now, let’s look at what happens to us when we are not complacent, but are really in a challenging situation. Think about how your senses are heightened and how you experience a rush of adrenalin that gives you an energy boost. And wouldn’t you agree that it is amazing how efficient and successful we can become when we recognize and act in response to the challenge? So why do we wait for those dire circumstances to kick us out of complacency?

Wherever complacency exists in a business, there will be great resistance to change. We know that certain changes in the human body will trigger the body’s immune system. Well, the same thing happens within businesses and organizations. Only in this case, it is people who resist and try to fight off the change. Resistance can be good if it defends the health of your business, but resistance can do serious damage or may even prove fatal if the resistance is against desperately needed changes in your business.

How can we identify and respond to the deadly and destructive habit of complacency? Complacency is the sense of security and comfort that derives from the belief that the success you have had in the past will continue indefinitely. Complacency loves blindness, inertia and the status quo. This powerfully destructive habit creates a formidable barrier to the successful growth of you and your business. If you or others in your business suffer from this habit, then we urges you to try one or more of the following preventions and cures immediately!

1. A clear-eyed, disciplined approach to strategic planning will go a long way in preventing complacency. Develop a clearly defined and focused vision for your business, as well as a mission statement, a list of core values or guiding principles and goals and objectives for your business. Share this with the entire company to motivate everyone to focus on achieving the vision and mission for the company.

2. Complacency is exhibited by continuing to employ under performing individuals because it appears costly to replace them. The business owner and management look at the time to interview new hires, training, the uncertainty of a new individual in the company, and many other costs associated with a new employee. But more important than these costs is the truth that, if an individual in your organization is dragging down the company or significantly impeding its growth, it is never too soon to plan and facilitate an exit for that individual and therefore thwart complacency in your business.

3. Complacency in your business marketing efforts can also result in serious
damage or even have fatal results for your business. Commit to making continual business marketing improvement for your company. Develop a strategic Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Plan and use that document to help drive the strategic marketing efforts of your business. This is a powerful and proven tool to keep your marketing efforts focused and on track.

4. Recruit and retain a business coach, a mentor and possibly a peer advisory group. These people will provide encouragement, guidance and motivation for you and your business to grow and to be successful and will help you and your business avoid the destructive habit of complacency.

5. Commit to holding yourself and others accountable. Develop a system of accountability by using performance standards related to the achievement of established goals and objectives. This commitment to being held accountable will prevent complacency.

6. Develop a strategic client relationship management system, which includes a plan for keeping in touch with your clients and customers, your prospects, and your stakeholders. A commitment to listen and respond to your clients and customers will not enable you and others in the company to become complacent.

7. Develop a set of goals and objectives and send a clear message that a “business as usual” or a “maintaining the status quo” attitude will not be supported and will have financial and other consequences. Develop a recognition and reward system also.

8. Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. Good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business is likely to win many more customers through recommendations. And remember, if you are not taking care of your customers, your competition will. A Customer Satisfaction survey will not only help you identify problem areas, but will also demonstrate to your customers that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide to them. Complacency will not occur if you commit to developing and implementing a customer satisfaction survey program and to taking necessary actions to respond to any deficiencies in your customer service.

9. Don’t let success lull you into complacency. Continuously search for new ideas. Commit to an attitude of continuous improvement and complacency will not exist nor will it be able to survive.

10. Commit to being a lifelong learner. Obtain more education and seek out new knowledge through reading, taking a teleclass, attending a workshop or seminar or taking a college course. Seeking more education also provides opportunities to be introduced to new people and ideas, which often sparks creativity and prevents complacency.

Is your Company a Community or ? …

Many executives tend to think of their company as a vast machine that they need to control.  This naturally reduces employees into faceless cogs where nobody is indispensable, and everybody is as replaceable as a spare part. Individual initiative, goals, and desires are considered to be completely subsumed by the demands of the corporate machine.

Managers who like the machine analogy tend to create rigid teams with rigid roles and rigid functions. Managers and workers alike become convinced that change is very difficult, similar to retooling a complicated machine.

Such managers tend to think of themselves as “controllers” whose job it is to make sure that people follow the rules of the “system.” Employees are treated in dehumanizing ways while the corporation centralizes control at the top.  What’s worse, sales teams working for such organizations are constantly struggling to secure resources to help them sell.  They suffer on a daily basis to get the machine to respond in a way that matches the needs of the customer, rather than the needs of the corporate machine.

By contrast, when executives and managers see their organizations as communities of individuals, all of whom have individual hopes and dreams, they begin to find ways to connected those hopes and dreams to the organization’s purpose.

When employees really feel that they’re valued as individuals, they more easily dedicate themselves to the goals of the organization.  They’re more likely to truly enjoy contributing to their own success, the success of their peers, and the success of the community at large.  Anybody who has worked in this kind of organization remembers it as a wonderful experience for the rest of their life.  (Unfortunately, such experiences are woefully rare.)

Better yet, the more community-like a corporation becomes, the easier it is for sales professionals to get things done, because communities are naturally more flexible and service-oriented than machines.  Ideally, the community concept begins to embrace customers as well.

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